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e A. L. BYGRAVE.

' CYCLING SKIRT.

No. 555,428. Patented Feb. 25, 1896.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALICE LOUISA BYGRAVE, OF LONDON ENGLAND.

CYCLING-SKIRT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,428, dated. February 25,1896. Application filed December 17,1895. $erial No. 572,427. (No model.) Patented in England September 13, 1895, No. l7,l{i5.

T0 on whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALICE LOUISA BY- GRAVE, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at No. 13 Canterbury Road, Brixton, London, in the county of Surrey, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ladies Cycling-Skirts, (for which I have obtained the following patent: Great Britain and Ireland, No. 17,145, dated September 13, 1895;) and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as part of this specification and read therewith, and one which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

'My invention relates to improvements in ladies cycling-skirts, and the object of it is to provide a skirt as proper for Wear when the wearer is on her cycle as when she has dismounted.

In carrying the invention into effect I make use of an ordinary skirt and the ordinary knickerbockers. Each of these garments is held to and on the person as heretofore. In fact, the present invention does not modify the knickerbockers at all, and for that reason their absence or replacement by any other bifurcated garment does not affect the invention. I

The invention consists in a skirt having an elevating-cord attached at the center of the front lower edge and extending up therefrom to be held in any adjusted position by a clip at the top and center of the front of the skirt, and also of a double cord attached to the center of the lower edge of the back of the skirt, extending up therefrom where it divides and extends to clips over the hips.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as part of this specification, Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a skirt, illustrating the application of the present invention to the back of it. Fig. 2 is a full-length figure showing the wearer immediately after she has let the back of the skirt down to the feet after dismounting from her cycle. Fig. 3 shows her ready to fasten the same cords after the skirt has been raised preparatory to mounting.

a a are the knickerbockers.

Z) is the skirt.

o is the front cord. It is made fast by one end to the bottom edge of the skirt exactly in the middle in front thereof, and from there it is led upward to nearly as far as the skirtband (1, where its free end e hangs loose outside the skirt. The direction in which the cord is led is Vertical.

f is the guide through which the cord is led. Both guide and cord are preferably inside the skirt for the sake of appearance; but whether they are inside or outside the skirt does not matter as far as the action of the invention is concerned. It is, however, of importance that the cord should run and work centrally up and down the front. The guide may be of any suitable type. I have illustrated it as consisting of a hem sewed to the skirt. A row of loops or rings is an eflicient substitute for the hem. This guide may be dispensed with altogether, but I prefer to make use of it, because it is likely to prevent the cord 0 catcl1- ing on an undergarment.

g is the hole in the skirt through which the free end of the cord 0 (when it is led up the inside of the skirt) is brought so as to be within reach of the wearers hand.

it is a clip adapted to grip the cord 0 and to hold it in either of its terminal or any intermediate position, as may be required. Any type of clip capable of so holding the said cord may be made use of. The clip illustrated is a triangular metal loop having its sides brought close enough together near the apex to leave the distance between them rather less than the normal thickness of the cord. The opposite side or base of the clip is made fast to the skirt at a point or along a line immediately above the hole g, so as to be in the line of the pull on the cord 0, and leaving the apex above mentioned hanging down upon it at a short distance above the hole 9. The free end of the cord is led through the clip 72, from the under side and hangs down in front of it. Apull upon the pendent free end 6 suffices to compress the cord between the approximated sides of the clip.

2' is a concealed weight. It is made fast to the bottom edge of the skirt where the end of the cord is made fast to it and should be a little heavier than the front of the skirt, in order that the latter may be pulled down quickly as soon as the cord 0 is released from the clip 71 To raise the front of the skirt the free end e of the cord is taken in the hand and pulled upward. This releases it from the clip h. The pull is continued until the skirt is as high as the wearers comfort as a cyclist requires, whereupon the direction of the pull is suddenly reversed. This compresses the cord in the bight or between the approximated ends of the clip h. The above-described motions of disengaging and re-engaging the cord with the said clip are modified according to the type of clip which is made use of. The loose end 6 is finally tucked into the skirt band (I.

The duplicate cords, guides, weights, and clips for the back of the skirt are replicas of of those already described, excepting that the clips are fixed one on each side of the skirt toward the front. They are marked with the same reference-letters as those pertaining to the front, with the addition of small numerals 1 and 2. The free ends 6 e of the cords c c are longer accordingly. It must be understood that the duplication of the cords and their addenda for the back of the skirt is not an indispensable feature of the invention. One cord with its addenda would realize the object of the present invention in respect of the back of the skirt, but I prefer to have them in duplicate, one to be worked from each side of the wearer.

The presentation of the free ends 6 e of the cord 0 c at the sides of the wearer is to make the use of them more easy and graceful than if they both presented behind. This change of position makes the pulls on the cords lateral instead of vertical, and to oppose the consequent strains the clips are connected to the skirt so as to be in the line of pull.

It is a part of my invention that the cords shall be led and work only up and down the front or back of the skirt or up and down both front and back and centrally thereof. The cords pull only from one of two points-the middle of the bottom edge in front and the middle of the bottom edge behindand the pulls mustbe central or the skirt will not hang in equal festoons on both sides. As to the sides, they are reached only through the fabric. There is no direct pull upon them, or they would not festoon.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- In combination with the skirt, the elevating-cord attached at the center of the front lower edge, the clip at the top and center of the skirt, the double cord attached at the center of the back and extending up and around the hips toward the front and the clips for holding the free ends of the double cord, said clips being over the hips, substantially as de scribed.

In witness whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 4th day of December, 1895.

ALICE LOUISA BYGRAVE.

Witnesses:

ROBT. A. BLAKE, JOSEPH LAKE. 

